4.6 - Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith

Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith was the sixth and final serial of series 4 of The Sarah Jane Adventures. It was written by Clayton Hickman and Gareth Roberts and directed by Joss Agnew. It featured Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith, Tommy Knight as Luke Smith, Daniel Anthony as Clyde Langer, Anjli Mohindra as Rani Chandra, Alexander Armstrong as Mr Smith and John Leeson as K9.

In a sad case of irony, arising from the title and plot, it was the final story of the programme to be broadcast during the life of its star, Elisabeth Sladen. The story introduced a pair of foil characters to Sarah and Mr Smith, Ruby White and Mr White, and dealt with Sarah's quiet fear of growing too old and ill to continue protecting the Earth, becoming purposeless. It also revealed how deeply Luke's departure to Oxford had affected her.

It served as the last story in any media to feature K9 Mark IV for almost a decade, before the robot dog finally returned in 2020's Farewell, Sarah Jane, a story celebrating the life of Elisabeth Sladen.

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